Mystery: The Ultimate Tarot

Chapter 328 The Official Saints Couldn't Sit Still Anymore

Fabio, the senior deacon of "The Punisher," and Ikonser Bernard, the senior deacon of "The Mechanical Heart," both looked at the "Red Gloves" captain after hearing Leonard's speech.

With his handsome appearance and poetic temperament, Leonard continued, "It suddenly occurred to me that if the 'promoted demon' is using the previous 'demon' as cover, then this must be the most cunning demon we have ever encountered."

"Imagine, such an extraordinary person must be meticulous, how could he possibly leave such obvious clues at the scene?"

'

The others were slightly taken aback, realizing that there was indeed some truth to it.

If that's the case, then all the current speculations might be guesses that the killer wants the investigators to make.

At this point, Leonard shrugged and said, "The only thing that's certain now is that if the murderer kills two more people, it will meet the requirements for the ascension ceremony. I suggest that starting today, the Church's Cardinal Bishop activate the emergency plan and personally protect the safety of the believers around the church."

The church has an emergency plan mechanism in place. After the local saints have requested divine help, they can use the faith power "stored" in the church to protect the surrounding area.

At the same time, saints in these spaces can gain some privileges close to those of angels. For example, if the murderer commits another crime around the church, they can immediately detect it and appear beside the murderer at an extremely fast speed.

However, once such a mechanism is activated, the sealed artifacts within the church must be resealed. In addition to helping the gods stabilize their state, the "power of faith" also helps the official extraordinary beings suppress the sealed artifacts.

If the "power of faith" used to suppress the sealed objects is used elsewhere, those previously "stable" sealed objects may become active again, and those that were already active may be in danger of breaking free from their seals.

Activating such a mechanism is extremely complicated and dangerous, especially in a cathedral that contains many level 1 sealed artifacts. A moment's inattention could allow the artifacts to escape, potentially resulting in even more deaths. Therefore, this mechanism is rarely activated unless in a truly urgent situation.

The current situation is that the murderer will only strike twice more. Judging from the current situation, this "demon" is more troublesome than the "demon" from two years ago. Relying on the power of the high-level deacons, it may not be possible to capture that murderer.

That's why Leonard made that suggestion.

Before he attended the meeting, Cardinal Anthony Stevenson of the Church of the Night in Backlund had spoken with Leonard about the matter and asked him to propose the solution at the meeting.

Just as the other two senior deacons were about to comment on the matter, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open, and Captain O'Connor of "The Punisher" strode in: "We've found new leads at the Backlund Grand Hotel."

While they were meeting, the investigation continued.

The attendees all looked at O'Connor, the captain of the "Substitute Punisher," who walked to the conference table and said, "Many waiters and chefs, managers, and even extraordinary bodyguards at the Backlund Hotel have been hypnotized."

"According to our investigation using the sealed artifacts, there is a young man who appears in the kitchen every three to four days to cook a special dish."

"These dishes are very popular with customers, and many people have asked the manager to let them try the chef's work."

"But the chef said that the ingredients were limited, so he still only went once every three or four days."

"He always went there within an hour of the previous murders."

Everyone unconsciously sat up straight; this was most likely the murderer.

Then the expressions on everyone's faces gradually eased. They were completely confused just now, but now they had finally found a useful clue.

Leonard asked, "Do you have the menu for the dishes the killer—that chef—made before?"

"Yes," O'Connor said. "I made a copy."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper and handed it over.

Leonard took a look and couldn't help but frown; the handwriting was too messy.

However, it is still readable.

He looked at it for a while, then handed it to the other senior deacons.

After everyone finished reading, they couldn't help but exchange glances.

These dishes all involve offal!

Whether it was animal organs or the victim's organs is really hard to say.

Or perhaps, everyone already had the answer in their hearts and silently resolved never to dine at the Backlund Hotel again.

After a moment of silence in the conference room, Ikonser spoke first: "This 'demon's' ascension ceremony was somewhat unusual."

Because a similar case had just occurred two years prior, there was a ready-made case for comparison. According to some information they learned from the church at that time, after the promotion ceremony began, the promoted person should have eaten the victim's internal organs.

And this "devil" actually made others eat the victim's internal organs!

The people in the meeting room fell into deep thought again. After a few seconds, Leonard asked O'Connor, "Who ate the food the killer prepared?"

O'Connor paused for a moment before saying, "I didn't pay much attention to that. I just asked the waiter, but he couldn't remember either, so I didn't use the sealing artifact to 'ask' him."

Leonard immediately stood up and said to O'Connor, "Let's go to the Backlund Hotel again right away."

He said to the other two senior deacons, "I suspect the murderer ate the internal organs of the first victim into the body of the second victim."

.

Leonard needs to use his extraordinary abilities to confirm his guess. If it is true, it is enough to show that this "demon" is quite special, or that he is ascending to a higher realm through another ritual.

Just then, a captain of the "Night Watch" pushed open the door and came in, saying that an oil painting had been found at the auction house, which was suspected to be the work of the killer in the previous "Seven Deadly Sins serial murder case".

Fabio stood up and said, "I'll go investigate this lead."

Finally, Iconser stood up: "I'll go check if there are any clues that the killer is from the Fursac."

He looked at the two senior deacons and said, "I always felt that everything the murderer did before was to cover up his true purpose."

"Just like the previous similar case, from his—its ascension ceremony—to the revenge of the 'Apostle of Desire,' it was all a cover for the assassination of Old Duke Negan."

Leonard and Fabio nodded in agreement; they also felt that the case had an inexplicable eeriness about it.

It was clearly just a Sequence 6 advancement ceremony, yet it mobilized the entire Extraordinary Realm of Backlund.

With so many homeless people in Backlund, the murderer could have easily killed them quietly and disposed of the bodies. That way, at least the police wouldn't have submitted the case to the official Extraordinary after the murderer had killed several people.

By the time the official extraordinary individuals paid enough attention, the other party's ceremony was almost over.

Leonard added, "I reiterate my previous suggestion. I have a feeling that if we don't catch this killer in the next two cases, we may never catch him, and the mystery in our hearts may never be solved."

Fabio said, "I will report to Archbishop Radal."

Ikonser also said, "I will also report to Archbishop Horamik."

The three men exchanged glances, then quickly left with their respective groups to investigate new leads.

Raphael lay on the roof, staring blankly at the not-so-bright sun in the sky.

He chose a very secluded spot, one that people on the street couldn't spot, but he could see what was happening on the street by simply tilting his head.

Raphael thought to himself that May had arrived in the blink of an eye, and Backlund had entered the early summer season.

Now is the most comfortable season in the city; the damp chill is gone, and it's not too stuffy.

After a moment of blankness, Raphael sensed something and turned his head to see the target's carriage appear at the end of the street.

He gave a smile that was both somewhat manic and cruel.

After each act of violence, Raphael felt his mind tighten even more, and at this point, he often acted like a madman.

At the same time, paradoxically, he is very calm most of the time, even frighteningly so.

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So Raphael has been staying in his room as much as possible lately, avoiding seeing anyone. When he gets bored, he goes over his plans over and over again, or secretly watches the next victim, like a venomous spider waiting for its target to fall into its web.

This is the twelfth target to be killed. The thirteenth target has already been chosen. After killing the last one, I can be promoted.

With that thought in mind, Raphael sat up and focused his attention. He couldn't be distracted while hunting, even if the prey was just an ordinary person.

When the target's carriage arrived at the optimal ambush location, Raphael, who had already disguised himself, grinned, his face revealing murderous intent. He was about to jump off the roof when his intuition suddenly gave him a warning.

Then a scene appeared before Raphael's eyes: the Cardinal of the Church of Storms suddenly appeared in mid-air and unleashed a bolt of lightning at him.

The moment this scene appeared, Raphael immediately transformed into a phantom and entered the "Dark Abode." Although he didn't understand what was going on, he had great faith in the ability of "malice perception."

Especially under the influence of "Dark Lodge", the ability to "perceive malice" is enhanced.

One second after Raphael entered the "Dark Lodge", the Church of Storms' Cardinal Radar indeed appeared in mid-air!

Raphael, inside the "Dark Hut," was surprised. Even under the gaze of "True Vision," he couldn't see clearly how the other party had teleported to the scene.

But he carefully recalled what had just happened. He had been lying there for almost half an hour without attracting the attention of the cardinal, but the moment he showed his killing intent, the other party seemed to have noticed and almost instantly teleported above him.

If you don't immediately enter the "Dark Abode," even if you use "travel," the other party can still detect your presence and track you to the spirit world.

Although he didn't understand what was going on, Raphael realized that the official extraordinary saint had taken over the case, making it difficult to continue killing around the church.

Thinking of this, he smiled slightly. He decided not to continue committing crimes around the church and to see what the other party would do to him.

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